Written by Guest Writer E. Fisher:
Bandstand follows Donny Novitski (Cott), from WW II battlefield, to NYC & Hollywood. He’s a singer/song- writer who steam-roller collects a group of musicians, (veterans) determined to win the big NBC radio contest culminating in a Hollywood movie, fame, fortune the USA’s next big band. There’s recurring battle memories & PTSD, some tear jerking, lots of wonderful ’40s style dancing & music & a thread of plot that picks up steam as the show moves along. (Lots of veterans in the audience were loudly supportive.) As w/ a few other recent Bway shows, many of the top people sing, dance & play an instrument. Each band member is an extremely good soloist on his instrument. Before I saw it, I was hard pressed to figure out how they were going to make a Bway show out of the plot. It has the strong ’40s movie simplicity w/ exceptionally wonderful dancing.
The entire cast maintains a high level of energy & character. (I was impressed that they were all so fresh & strong after finishing the matinee today.) Osnos’ mother, Beth Leavel, is a delightful highlight as are many of the smaller parts, but as a whole, & individually, this feels much more like an adult Judy Garland/Mickey Rooney ’40s movie – simple, w/ a very uncomplicated plot. I was surprised at how many Hamilton staging & choreographic elements were used, updated & “modernized” — but solidly there. The 1st act seemed unusually long & lots of the plot telegraphed eons ahead of time. The show was tried out at the Paper Mill Playhouse last year & the Bway opening was postponed, needing further work. It still feels as if it needs further work — probably on the book, first. Much of what’s there is marvelously good (dancing) with some particularly good musicians & talent — but overall, is insufficient & somewhat lacking overall. I’d say this would probably make a good play — if the book is reworked a bit, but, as is, the dancing & music over- whelm the too thin plot.